Telephone lines, which are carried by electrical conductors known as tip ring wires pairs, originate from a central office (CO) and are aggregated at a particular point in a building prior to being distributed and connected to various types of telephone equipment, such as, for example, telephones, fax machines, modems etc., in the building. The tip ring wire pairs, which generally enter the building as part of a multi-conductor cable, are connected to a junction box known as, for example, a building entrance protector (BEP) or network interface unit (NIU). Within the junction box, the individual telephone line tip ring wire pairs are separated from the cable, individually connected to a connector block, and made available for further electrical connection and distribution.
The connector block, also known as an insulation displacement connector (IDC) block, may be the ubiquitous punch down connector block, also known as a 66-type connector block, or the tool-less insulation displacement connector block utilizing punch cap connectors, such as that described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,659 dated Apr. 3, 1990, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The IDC connector block is commercially available under the product designation SC99 from Lucent Technologies Inc.
The tool-less insulation displacement connector block includes an IDC type connector on one side of the connector block. The IDC connector includes a connector cap that is moveable from an up position, for facilitating insertion of the wire, to a down position, where the wire is brought into mechanical and electrical contact with a terminal strip disposed in the IDC connector. Opposite the IDC on the other side of the connector block is a matching, electrically connected wire wrap end of the terminal strip, such that a wire connected on the wire wrap side may be connected to another wire coupled to the IDC side of the block.
In operation, the connector cap of the IDC connector is initially in the up position and a tip ring wire is inserted into an entrance aperture in the connector cap. The wire is then urged through a wire passage disposed in the connector cap until it exits the cap through an exit aperture. After the wire is inserted through the connector cap, the connector cap is pushed down which causes the wire to be gripped by the terminal. Typically, the portion of the tip ring wire that extends beyond the exit aperture in the connector cap is trimmed so that the wire is flush with the connector cap surface. In this way, the excess wire does not interfere with other connectors on the connector cap. However, in some instances, it is desirable to pass the tip ring wire from the connector to another connector on the connector block so that a single tip ring wire pair may be branched across multiple terminals.
A significant drawback of the prior art IDC connectors is that when the portion of the tip ring wire that exits the IDC connector is trimmed, the trimmed section can fall on the connector block and cause an electrical short between terminals on the block, or fall into the BEP or NIU or other associated equipment. Furthermore, the step of trimming the excess wire portion is labor intensive, especially when wire density is high, which increases the cost associated with installation of the connector block. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a device that eliminates the need to trim the excess portion of the tip ring wire while also selectably providing for the routing of the wire from the connector to other connectors on the connector block, or to other connection points.